It’s not uncommon, actually, for the finals to have a “name” that is not typically a judge, in order to get someone who hasn’t been watching the same kids day in and out all year and to have developed some preferences. McLain, Laura Kraut, Rachel Kennedy, Scot Hofstetter are a few examples of people who have judged but either don’t have a card or are not thought of as “regular” judges. I was curious about this a few years back so delved into the rulebook. If I recall correctly (I could go back and look, but I’m lazy), the “naive” judge is allowed as long as the companion judge is a large R, or something along those lines.
I was very surprised about the selection of Rachel Kennedy to judge the Maclay Finals in 2016. She’s an accomplished hunter pro from Zone 3, which is not exactly an equitation powerhouse (I’ve lived here 30 years, I’m allowed to say that). She judged alongside Diane Carney that year.
Or maybe because her stepfather is Frank Madden the judges just happened to be marking their cards at that particular moment Somehow I think if it was Joe Blow from nowhere USA the judges might have noticed the swap.
Scott Hoffstetter has a card, and he has judged a LOT over the years. A lot, a lot. Enough that he was a regular panelist at the USEF judges’ clinics for several years, in fact. In addition to winning the Maclay finals himself as a junior, of course.
The rule about guest judges for the finals is still on the books right now, but I don’t know how often it will be used in the future. A huge part of any judging job is the bookkeeping involved, which is a skill that requires a lot of practice to develop. Particularly for a major event with hundreds of entries over the course of a very long day. That is not an ideal situation for an inexperienced judge, regardless of their riding ability or good intentions.
I get this sentiment, but Emil has collectively bought/sold/selected more actively-showing horses than probably most COTHers combined, so I think what he might lack in formal judging experience, he makes up for in sheer exposure. (In full disclosure, I rode in his program for several years, but he is a very good horseman with an excellent eye.)
Some might say that this argument would make a lot more sense if the class had been some big hunter classic or derby, and not an equitation final, but I’m with you - I don’t think it’s that hard to tell the difference between a rider whose body position throughout the entire course aligns with top equitation standards and one whose body position does not. And while the horse’s form doesn’t matter in equitation, the expectations of the horse’s performance is mostly the same in equitation as it is in the hunters. The only difference is that the judges have discretion in the equitation to minimize or ignore some performance issues on the part of the horse if they determine it was not due to rider error. But ultimately, stops, swaps, missed changes, and rails down are the errors that eliminate most participants from being in the ribbons in both hunters and equitation.
I don’t see why people like Emil Spadone and Rachel Kennedy should be given the side eye for being asked to judge equitation finals. I don’t know Emil at all, but I do know that Rachel has been showing the A circuit, I think without any breaks, since she was about 5 years old, and she has plenty of judging experience at some really big shows. Does anyone really believe that she thinks the riders’ positions that she sees when she’s judging hunters is what she should be looking for when she’s judging an equitation final?
Here’s a question to those who don’t like either of these choices - who would you consider to be qualified and available to judge all these equitation finals?
I’m sure he did and certainly had a hand in the sale of several others. But let’s also be real: he owns hundreds of horses, many of which haven’t physically been in his barn in years, so I doubt it played a huge role (if any) in the judging.
Exactly—and this is evident by how frequently us “armchair quarterbacks” on COTH give thoughtful feedback and, quite often, pick the winners. If you know what to look for at this level, it’s simply not unreasonable that two top trainers/horse dealers would be qualified to judge classes like these. (And I do think that the challenges posed by COVID this year added another complex layer to selecting judges.)
I’ve also lived here 30 years, so I can say that I agree with you that we largely are not (though we should continue to say “BUT JACOB AND TAYLOR” when the opportunity presents itself!) but I would be delighted to show in front of a judge as knowledgeable as Rachel no matter the class. At the end of the day, these classes aren’t about position and style except in that correct design of position and a sympathetic style allow a rider to be effective in communicating with the horse. You’re looking for someone who can communicate harmoniously with the horse to answer the questions in the course. Good riding is not discipline-specific and an experienced horseperson like Rachel or Emil is qualified to assess it.
Now, I say that having disagreed with the placement of various folks in the top 10 that year, but I didn’t disagree with the winner, and the only big R I’ve got is my first initial.
The things I loved most about Dominic and Taylor’s round is was that they were smooth, forward and flowing. This was a course that required a ton of pace, striding, direction and balance changes, and Dominic especially made it look like a conventional hunter round.
To get around that course and make all the striding was an achievement in itself; to make it look like a hunter round…that’s something. And something no eq horse, not matter how experienced or how wonderful, can make happen on their own.
So I think the course design was excellent, did exactly what it was supposed to do and the results absolutely reflected the correct skills.
